Some of the biggest names in football have been told they were too small to make it. From Diego Maradona and Roy Keane to present-day delights such as Mathieu Valbuena and Marco Reus, the list of successful so-called shorties is long. Of course, size bias also works the other way, with mightily-built players frequently gaining recognition for their destructive power while their creative acumen gets overlooked. That is perhaps one of the reasons why Christian Benteke and Romelu Lukaku are often considered to be too similar to play together. But that theory has just been disproved. And on Friday Serbia could suffer the consequences.

The Belgium manager Marc Wilmots stuck to his policy of starting with a solitary striker during last week's friendly in the United States but modified things when Mousa Dembélé had to come off after half an hour, introducing Benteke to partner Lukaku for the first time. They hit it off like hydrogen nuclei. The American defence could not cope as the score went from 1-1 to 4-2 to the visitors. Benteke scored twice and though neither goal was directly teed up by Lukaku, the interaction between the pair was one of the most attractive features of a compelling collective performance.

At times the American defence were unsure how to deal with two such potent target men but, most significantly, Benteke, in particular, showed that he is much more than a fulcrum and can also function as a canny pivot. He frequently dropped deep to contribute inventively to moves, showing an artful touch and astute brain. He displayed those qualities for Aston Villa last season but his brawn and goalscoring tended to grab most of the attention.

Although he was the focal point of Villa's attack, when the team were at their best he flitted about nimbly with the likes of Andreas Weimann and Gabriel Agbonlahor – his clever run and backheeled pass to Weimann for the goal at Anfield springs to mind and, indeed, Opta statistics state that over the campaign he created more chances (53) than Wayne Rooney (49), Dimitar Berbatov (47) and Theo Walcott (38). And they were not just lay-offs and flick-ons. His brawn and much-improved finishing tend to grab the attention but Benteke is a well-rounded player.

That is why he can have an even more influential role for his country than the one that he has forged over the last year, when he has become Belgium's first‑choice striker. And it is also, of course, why many of the top clubs in Europe can see him fitting in with them. "I enjoyed playing up front with Lukaku," Benteke said after the victory in Cleveland. "I played a little deeper than him and I like that. I like touching the ball a lot, while he likes playing off the defenders' shoulders. He also made me more comfortable – when I am on my own up front all the attention is on me, but here it was also on him."

So will Wilmots start the pair together on Friday when Belgium will likely need a victory over the already eliminated Serbia to keep up their neck-and-neck race with Croatia to top spot in World Cup qualifying Group A?

Probably not. Because, of course, the under-appreciation of just what a good touch Benteke has for a big man is not the sole reason that he and Lukaku were not previously unleashed together. The chief one is that Belgium have a bountiful stock of kindlers who make Wilmots' preferred 4-3-3 fire nicely. With Eden Hazard looking likely to return to the team even if not fully recovered from the injury that kept him out of the USA win, and the likes of Kevin Mirallas and Kevin De Bruyne both in excellent form recently, Wilmots can justify not altering his approach. And he now has the confirmation that if the game is not panning out as he hopes, he has a ready-made back-up plan. "The system with Benteke and Lukaku was a success," said the manager. "I still favour the 4-3-3 but now we know that we can change things if needed."

Wilmots, in fairness, has got most decisions right since taking charge of his country one year ago to the day. And perhaps his most significant contribution so far has been to enhance the atmosphere among the team, partially by opting for tactics and selections with which most players agree, partly thanks to his own charisma and motivational skill and partly because certain players have grown up.

There is little sign of the in-fighting and slackness that sabotaged a gifted Belgian side during the reigns of Wilmots's two predecessors. Certainly neither of them enjoyed such a bond with the players that they would preview a match in the way that Wilmots has looked forward to the Serbia game. "I could happily go die with this team," he told reporters on Wednesday. "The mentality they have, the quality they show, the atmosphere that they generate with the technical staff, I want to die with them. We are all together."

Previously, divisions weakened Belgium. Now unity makes them stronger. The understanding between Benteke and Lukaku could help make them unstoppable.